The Movie: The Columnist
The Director: Ivo van Aart
The Cast: Genio de Groot, Katja Herbers, Rein Hofman, Bram van der Kelen,
Claire Porro, Harry van Rijthoven
The Story: Columnist and author Femke is flooded with anonymous nasty messages
and death threats on social media. One day she has enough and decides to take
revenge.
The Review:
Never read the comments. People always say that when it comes to articles on the internet and pretty much anything to do with social media. The comments section is known as a wild west of opinion, exaggeration, and mean spirited exchanges of all types, and that's putting it very mildly. Often times, people who choose to read the comments will end up caught in a vicious cycle of anger and hate with almost no productive conversation to be found. So, why do people go there? Basically to either watch the train wreck or to contribute to it.
When it comes to creators of content, all of this negative comment section stuff is amplified because it's directed directly at said creator and emotions can often run high. So, what happens when a creator or writer or, in this case, an internet columnist decides she has had enough of the online abuse and decides to get revenge? That's the basic idea of this movie. Femke Boot is all of us who want to retaliate against people who sling insults and lies by hacking, slashing, and mutilating them into oblivion. There really isn't much to the story other than watching her find and hunt down internet trolls and that's all it really needs to be. Excellent performance from Katja Herbers that definitely makes this movie worth a look.
The Columnist is an official selection of the 2020 Fantasia International Film Festival.
To see more reviews, interviews, and festival coverage please go to: TwoOhSix at Fantasia 2020
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